


Family is What You Make It

by SkylerHyrule



Series: The Truth Comes Out and We Fall [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Clay | Dream and Toby Smith | Tubbo are Siblings, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Graphic Violence, Reunions, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Toby Smith | Tubbo-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28567173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylerHyrule/pseuds/SkylerHyrule
Summary: A chance encounter with the Dream Team forces Tubbo to drag up the past—something he'd rather forget.OrSBI+Tubbo meet Dream Team and Tubbo thinks this Dream guy is awfully familiar.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Toby Smith | Tubbo, No Romantic Relationship(s), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Series: The Truth Comes Out and We Fall [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093109
Comments: 5
Kudos: 354





	Family is What You Make It

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for clicking, this is the longest thing I've ever written. Hope you like it! It came from the surprising lack of Fantasy AUs?? like you'd think there'd be more but there isn't.
> 
> This is the first part in a series. I wrote this as a prequel to the main story. I'm planning to at least write a few chapters before I start posting it.

Tubbo groaned as he trudged through the forest, arms laden with goods from the market. What should have been a short trip between the house he shared with his family and the nearest town was probably going to kill him. 

“Tubbo I can hear you complaining from here.” 

“You say that as if you haven’t been crying about how sore your arms are for the past five minutes Tommy. At least I was only thinking it,” he shot back, grinning at his friend. 

Phil simply sighed from where he was leading the group. “I’m sorry boys, I am, but if the main road is blocked, this is the best way to get home without going through bandit territory, and I don’t feel like fighting right now.”

“Its cause you’re old,” Techno interjected.

“No, I just have more self-preservation than you lot, idiots, all of you,” Phil tsked, rolling his eyes good naturedly.

Tubbo smiled at their antics, shuffling the bags to try and find a comfortable position for his aching arms. They’d arrived at the market by noon, but as they made their way to the Western Gate, they were informed that a stray creeper had damaged the path some distance down the road. Circumnavigating the hole was nigh impossible; the forest near the path notorious for its bandit gangs. Phil had decided to instead take the Northern Gate and follow the road, meaning they could walk around the forest, but forcing them to walk almost double the distance, arriving at their house from the north, rather than the usual southern side.

In the lull of silence, he stopped. Ears picking up on a sound in the distance.  
He lurched as Wilbur nearly ran into him, bags jostling in his arms as he quickly sidestepped. Tubbo muttered an apology, straining to hear the sound again.

“What is it?” Wilbur huffed, annoyed at the near-collision.

“Shh!”  
That was enough to draw the attention of the others, all too aware of the potential danger ‘shh’ signalled. 

A shout of frustration followed by laughing allowed them to locate the disturbance. Uncertainly they followed the sounds, quietly making their way off the path until they could make out the words.

“No seriously, what would happen? I’m not gonna die, it’ll just be like drinking water!”

What?

“No it wouldn’t! You’d feel sick or something, I don’t know, just don’t do it!”

They drew closer to the arguing voices, the shouts punctuated by gasps of laughter. Moving around a thick oak tree they found themselves in a clearing, orange leaves scattered on the ground and a stream bubbling quietly to the left. Tubbo blinked in confusion. Two men appeared to be fighting over some glass bottles, one glowing pink and the other a sickly green. Above them, perched on a boulder, a third man sat, doubled over in laughter, not bothering to help the pair on the ground.

As they came into sight, he straightened, hand moving to the purple axe at his side. The two men looked up as the laughter stopped, noticing their audience.

“Can we help you?” Axe guy glared at them, or, he probably was, the strange smiley mask on his face meant they couldn’t exactly see his expression.

Tubbo stumbled back, head spinning.

Tommy reached out and grabbed his arm to stabilise him, not taking his eyes off the three men. 

He was confused at his reaction, he’d never met this man, and yet his voice sounded so familiar. 

“Sorry,” Phil stepped forward, hands raised placatingly, “We were just heading home when we heard voices, we weren’t sure what they were but we thought we should check in case they weren’t friendly.”

“Understandable, hope you didn’t hear any of that.” The guy trying to stop his friend from drinking the potions spoke up.

“Oh we did bitch boy.”

Wilbur elbowed Tommy. “Don’t speak to George like that.”

“George?” he looked at the man, taking in the white goggles on his head and mismatched eyes, recognition dawning on his face. “George as in George Not Found? Mans not doing a good job of it, we just fucking found ‘im.”

The other man, sporting a white bandana, took the opportunity to further the gap between them, hastily shoving the potions into his bag. George took no notice of it, peering curiously at Wilbur before his eyes widened. “Oh! Wilbur! Do you live around here?”

Wilbur began walking further into the clearing, the others following. “We do! Should I be offended you didn’t recognise me?” he laughed.

Headband guy stood up. “Yes.”

George went to punch him but a hand on his chest stopped him. 

“Ladies, ladies, calm down.” Mask man said mockingly, gently prying the two apart.

Tubbo only stood there staring at the masked man, mind running a mile a minute. Distantly he watched his family put their bags down, his body copied their actions, but he had never felt further away. Memories swirled tantalisingly close, but stayed just out of reach. 

“I didn’t realise you lived so close, Dream.” Techno released the grip he had on his sword.

Mentally he slapped himself, of course the man was familiar. Everyone knew who Dream and his friends, Sapnap and George were; rising out of nowhere after saving a town from mobs and gaining popularity for his charm and parkour skills. The group made a name for themselves by becoming sell swords like Techno. Though the group had quickly matched his brother in popularity. 

But still. That didn’t sound right to him. There must be more to it, he thought to himself.  
He hadn’t personally met the Dream Team, as they were known, but apparently Phil and Techno had run into them in the Nether once. So why did Dream seem like more than just some guy he knows about?

He was dragged back into the present by Tommy letting go of his arm, the loss of contact enough to remind him where he was. 

“That must have been a hell of an argument if we could hear it half a mile away in a forest. What could possibly get the great George Not Found riled up so much?"

The three men looked at each other guiltily, not wanting to reveal their stupidity to anyone. They stood for a moment silently arguing before George elbowed Sapnap in the ribs, pointedly looking at the bag which contained the potions.

Sapnap cleared his throat uncomfortably before retrieving said potions and presenting them to the group. “If I mix a poison potion,” he wiggled the green bottle, “and a healing potion, would I get hurt or not, cause if you ask me they’ll just cancel each other out and nothing will happen, but Bitch Not Found over here refuses to agree.”

Tubbo snorted, Tommy and Wilbur quickly joining him. Techno closed his eyes, pain written on his face.

Phil simply raised an eyebrow, “I don’t think it wise to do that, George is right. You don’t know what would happen, but they wouldn’t cancel each other out.”

A far-off howl echoed through the forest before Sapnap could argue. They all jolted, suddenly noticing that the sun had dipped below the horizon, bathing the trees in an orange glow. 

“Well,” Dream said amicably, “as embarrassing as this has been, we should all get home before it gets dark, don’t want the children to get scared and all that.” 

Tommy bristled, slapping away Techno’s attempt to restrain him and earning a glare in return.

Taking that as their cue to leave, Sapnap and George began walking off, waving to the group before returning to their fight.

“You just don’t understand! All I'm saying is that it could work. This is a very important scientific question and I am willing to make the sacrifice.”

“Why can’t you just accept that you’re wrong and I’m right Sapnap.”

“Maybe if you didn’t identify as a bitch we wouldn’t have these problems.”

Dream wheezed, gasping for air as he jogged a few steps to catch up to his friends.

Tubbo only frowned, still unable to put a finger on why it felt so familiar. He’d heard that laugh before, he was sure of it. It’s such a stupid one… he’d only heard one person who laughed like that… that sounded like Dream does…

"Clay?"

Dream stiffened, whirling around to face the voice, posture defensive.  
"What did you just call me?" he demanded, voice wavering slightly.

Tubbo squeaked, he hadn’t meant to say it out loud! He stepped quickly behind Phil, who threw out his arm, drawing himself up to his full height.

Once again, his mouth moved before he even knew what he was saying, "Nothing! I'm sorry your voice just reminded me of someone I used to know." Oh, so that’s what it was.

Dream only seemed to tense further. He studied Tubbo, his shoulders drawing up for a moment before suddenly going slack. Hesitantly he reached up to unclip his mask, hands wavering he let it fall away as he spoke.

"Toby?"

Everyone stilled, George and Sapnap looked at each other worriedly before turning to Dream, unsure as to why he had allowed what was basically a group of strangers to see his face. Tubbo only stared wide-eyed at Dream, realisation dawning on his face.

“Dream?” Sapnap began hesitantly, “What are you—”

He was cut off by Tubbo’s gasp, taking a shaky step forward as he repeated Dream’s name. Dream opened his arms and Tubbo sprang forward, slamming into him and knocking them both backwards a step. The two held each other tightly, Tubbo silently shaking, burying his head into Dream’s shoulder. 

Dream gently pulled Tubbo away from him, cupping his face as Tubbo looked into Dream's violet eyes, tears gathering in his own. Dream tugged him back to his chest, dropping his chin onto Tubbo's head, muttering nonsense to him.  
“I—I _knew_ it,” Tubbo cried, “I knew you were alive, I knew!” 

Dream laughed weakly, legs nearly buckling under the weight of the boy. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for leaving you Toby, I thought—I was told you were _dead_.” 

Tubbo nodded. “I was told that too, but, but your things weren’t in my Ender Chest. So—so you had to be alive somewhere!”

Someone coughed and the pair pushed apart, remembering that their friends were still there. Tubbo looked to his family, taking in the confusion on their faces, and smiled guiltily. He wrung his hands together nervously, opening his mouth to explain, but was cut off by Dream, who pulled him to the side and tucked him under his arm, allowing them to face both groups.

He took a deep breath. "Well...uh? Hi. Meet Toby, my younger brother."

Silence rang out for a few moments as they took in Dream’s words. Only being broken by Tommy’s screech of “What?!” There was chaos in the clearing as they began shouting over each other.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“What else would it mean dumbass?” 

“You said you were an only child!”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Why were you separated?”

Noticing the distress on the boys’ faces Phil raised his voice over the cacophony of questions. “Silence!”

They stopped.

Dream resolutely looked at the ground, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. Beside him, Tubbo shrunk into himself under the gaze of his friends. 

George crossed his arms, facing Dream. “Are we gonna get an explanation, or is this staying another secret.”

"I—" he looked at Tubbo, a silent look passed between them, and he nodded.  
"Let's...go back to our house." he turned to Phil, "These guys can show you the way, uh, Toby and I will go on ahead, and we can explain when we all get there."

At that he waved and began walking off, fixing his mask back in place. Tubbo looked at Tommy apologetically and rushed after his brother.

They all stared as the pair walked off, unsure of what to do.

Wilbur turned to his father.  
"You recognised him didn't you Phil?"

Phil sighed. "I believe so, and if I’m right, I understand why he wears a mask, but I'm not going to say anything, it's not my story to tell.”

"It's ‘cause of his eyes, right? I mean that's what he told us anyway." Sapnap looked at Phil questioningly.

"As I said, it's not my place, but I’m sure it’s a reason."

"What about his eyes?" Tommy interrupted, "I mean, yeah ok they're purple, so what?"

"Only Endermen Hybrids have purple eyes, Tommy," Techno explained.

"Oooh. Huh? Wait are you saying Dream’s a Hybrid? But wouldn’t that mean Tubbo…” he trailed off.

No one had the answer.

Sapnap tugged on his bandana sharply in frustration, muttering something about “even more goddamn secrets” and “this face reveal is so unfair” as he stalked around the clearing.

George cleared his throat, ignoring Sapnap. “Alright, I guess we should follow them, find out what happened and all that.”  
He turned and grabbed the back of Sapnap’s shirt. Not checking to see if the others were following, he dragged Sapnap off in the direction Dream had taken Tubbo.

Phil and Techno looked at each other before shrugging, picking up their bags and following after them, twigs snapping in the distance.  
Wilbur went to move as well when he stopped, noticing that Tommy wasn’t following them, his eyes downcast.

“What’s wrong?” he queried.

Tommy shuffled awkwardly, looking away.  
"He just… looked happy, talking to Dream, that is. He. Is he, is he gonna... Y'know..." 

Wilbur just lightly punched his shoulder.

Tommy jumped, rubbing his arm in mock pain. "Oi! what was that for dickhead?"

"You're being stupid. Of course he's not gonna leave, he's our Tubbo. He wouldn’t drop us for something like that." Wilbur smiled at him before walking after where Techno and Phil were following the others. 

Tommy stared at Wilbur's back before snorting.  
"Yeah, yeah of course he'll stay, real family don't mean shit in this economy!" Laughing at his own joke he ran after his family.

* * *

No one spoke as the group made their way through the forest. Too caught up in their own thoughts. They all loosely held their weapons. Wary of any mobs that might rise earlier than nightfall, drawn up by the relative darkness provided by the towering trees. After a few minutes, George and Sapnap led them off the path with seemingly no marker to indicate where to turn. Eventually, they broke through the tree line into a large clearing. A large wooden house stood in the middle. Ivy climbed the side of the house, trailing its way up the roof. The curtains were drawn and through the window they could make out the silhouettes of Tubbo and Dream. The torches surrounding the house had been lit, bathing the clearing in a soft orange glow and warning off any mobs from getting to close to the house. Smoke coiled lazily from the chimney, and the thought of a warm fire had everyone rushing the last few steps to the house. 

George gently pushed the door open before walking inside, gesturing to the others to follow. They all settled around the living room. Dream and Tubbo already occupying the couch, both looking like they wished they were anywhere else. Phil, Techno, and Wilbur spread themselves across the remaining two chairs, Wilbur perched precariously on the arm of Techno's seat. Tommy seated himself so he was sitting on Phil, his long legs reaching across the chairs to lay in Techno’s lap. Sapnap leant against the kitchen bench, while George opted to sit on the carpet in front of him. They all turned their attention to Dream, who was fiddling with his hands, feet tapping to some unknown beat.

He took a deep breath before starting, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Do you all know what happened to the royal family of Esempia?"

"Yeah," George answered him, "They were attacked and killed in their fancy carriage, and their Will said that this guy from Manburg, Schlatt, or something, was the next in line if the kids died."

Dream scoffed, "Yep. That sorry is complete _bullshit_.”

They all paused at the implications.

"Oh I don't like where this is going," Techno broke the silence.

Tubbo smiled. “You'll like it even less in a minute, Blade!"

Dream hummed in agreement. "The truth is a little more... sinister than that.  
I’ll let Toby—Tubbo—explain first.”

Tubbo nodded, legs swinging nervously and hands gripping the couch as he spoke. “It was 4 years ago, the day the royal family died…”

* * *

It was supposed to be a short journey. Just a small trip to a neighbouring city and back again, no one was even supposed to know. Not that the legion of guards escorting them left much room to debate the carriage’s occupants. They were on their way back, only a few hours from the capital outskirts. The lush forest around them slowly gave way to open fields that, had it been harvest season, would have been filled with farmers. But it wasn’t, and so the field remained devoid of human life, only the faint gurgling of irrigation streams and the whistle of wind through the short wheat could be heard. 

There came a large crash from in front of them, and the carriage was rocked by the force. Shouting broke out from all sides, he tried to peer out the window but was dragged down by Clay before he could see anything. The carriage shook again, the door nearly ripped from its hinges. It came to a stop and his mother grabbed his hand, holding him behind her as they cautiously left the carriage. A sharp tug forced him to move, but he could barely make out his family through the smoke, his eyes watering. Bodies moved around him, but he could only see the occasional flash of silver and the accompanying grunt of pain. He felt hands shove him down, and he crawled under the toppled carriage. He didn’t dare move, feet ran back and forth in front of him, but none came to help him. He tried to spot his family, but it was impossible to make out anything.

“Toby! Toby come here!” The desperate cries of his brother pulled him out from his hiding spot. He swung his head to try and locate Clay. He finally saw him to his right, fighting off about 3 men with his axe. Toby ran towards him, launching himself at the man closest to him, trying to throw him off balance. 

“Leave him alone!” He shouted, putting as much power into his voice as a 9-year-old can. 

“Toby no!” Clay forced the other two men away, reaching for him before turning back around to block another sword.  
The man he pushed regained his balance, muttering a “damned brat” as he lunged at Toby and grabbed him by the arm. Toby squeaked as he was dragged, flailing his body in an attempt to escape.

Clay roared in pain and anger, frantically trying to get to him, but being stopped at every turn. More and more men seemed to converge on the two, pulling them further apart. Toby could only sob as he felt rope being tied painfully around his wrists, pulling taught and ruining any chance of escape. The last thing he saw was the deadly arc of a sword plunging towards his brother before there was a sharp pain in his head. The pull of darkness became too much for him as he slipped into unconsciousness, crying out his brother’s name.

* * *

The rhythmic sound of water dripping on stone roused Toby from sleep, and he groaned as awareness returned. The pounding in his head was relentless, forcing him to keep his eyes closed. He pressed his hand uselessly against his head in an attempt to stop the pain. He pushed himself off the rough stone in an attempt to sit up, but a wave of dizziness prevented his efforts. Lying back down he let his eyes adjust to the darkness and looked around. Cold slabs of stone and bricks surrounded him, and a large iron gate divided the room from what he assumed was a hallway. The thick silver rods spaced too close to slip through. Upon closer inspection, a large padlock was fastened to the gate, presumably only openable from the outside with some key. Vaguely he registered he was in the castle dungeons, which didn’t make sense to his addled mind. His parents owned the castle, why would he be locked down there? Trying once more he was able to prop himself up against the moss-covered wall, shivering as the cold seeped into his back. 

Despite the pain, it gave him something to focus on. He remembered they’d been in their carriage, nearly home when they were attacked. His parents disappeared in the smoke and his brother— 

“Clay!” The name tore itself from his mouth as he recalled what happened. The shivering doubled, no longer just from cold, but fear as well. Not for himself, but for Clay. In the silence of the dungeon, he let himself sob, tears pouring down his face, making no move to wipe them away. His own cries echoed back at him, masking the sound of footsteps making their way to him. Weakly he slammed a fist on the ground, skin splitting and blood leaking onto the rock. A large bang broke him from his thoughts. A tall man stood at the door, hand still raised against the bars. His armour looking as if it had seen better days. 

The man grabbed at his belt and retrieved a set of keys. He fiddled with the lock for a moment and the gate slid open. Toby made no moves to escape. He simply sat there, looking warily at the man. Who frowned when Toby didn’t react. 

“Get up.” His voice was surprisingly calming, but Toby simply shook his head, wiping his face. 

The man grumbled and entered the cell himself. He reached out and hauled Toby up, his grip tight. He cried out in pain, struggling as the stranger all but dragged him out of the cell. He whipped his body around desperately, tugging against his captor. The man simply pulled back, grabbing his face.

“Listen here,” he threatened lowly, “you will stop struggling, or I will break your arm.”

He stopped instantly, not even daring to breathe.

The man grunted, pointing up the hall, directing Toby to walk. The man stood a few steps back, letting Toby make his own way up the hall. Finally, after making multiple turns, only guided by the occasional mumble of “left” or “right” he was stopped. He could only see two doors. One sat at the end of the hall, an imposing wooden gate laced with iron supports, the other a small iron door, inside he could make out several shapes through the grill, but it was too dark to see what they were.  
He looked wistfully at the larger door, hoping he would be led outside the dungeon, but instead was dragged in front of the smaller door and none too gently pushed through into what he recognised as another cell. In the middle of the room knelt a man, clothes torn and shoulder-length hair tangled. Two silver cuffs tied to his wrists kept him bound to the floor, the chain pulled taught. He looked up as Toby stumbled through the door. 

“Dad?” he gasped, he ran forward to the chained man. He made it a few steps before he felt a hand tug sharply on his wrist, pulling him back. 

His father’s eyes, normally a bright lilac, were now dull. Fear sparking through a mask of indifference. 

“Nice family reunion we’ve got going on here.” One man spoke from where he stood over his father, curled horns glinting in the dim torchlight as he leered over at Toby. He shrank under the gaze but refused to look away.

He was forced to his knees. His guard standing behind him. Multiple men were positioned around the room. His father was bound, and Toby had nowhere to run. In the back of his mind, he knew this was a dangerous situation, but had no idea what this Ram Hybrid wanted. Everything stilled as they waited for the man to speak again. Toby didn’t even dare to breathe. He seemed to enjoy the fear that filled the room, pacing in circles around the King. 

Finally, he spoke, “well, that was pretty easy. Didn’t think you’d give up at just the sight of your son.”

“Leave him out of this Schlatt.” His father’s voice was scratchy, broken.

“You think you can tell me what to do? Command me? You have no power here.”

A slap echoed around the room. Schlatt’s gloved hand still poised above his father. 

The King didn’t move from where his head had been flung to the side. “Just state your demands,” he said curtly.

“I believe I’ve made it quite obvious what I want.”

“You think the people would accept it? They would know something is wrong.”

“Ah you underestimate me. I know exactly what the people would think, but I am a very good businessman, laws and all that jazz, and I know that if I’m going to take control of another country, I have to do it the right way. 

His father glowered. “Overthrowing a country you are not even a citizen of is most definitely not ‘the right way.’”

“Semantics,” he said dismissively, “I’ll say it plainly. What I want. Is for you to give me the country, lawfully.”

“And how do you propose that happens?”

Schlatt smiled wickedly. “Your Will. You’re going to add a little something for me.”

His father spluttered. “What? And how is that supposed to help you?”

“You’re just gonna add a note, a single line, a small amendment. You just have to proclaim that in the line of succession, if say, the whole family goes missing, to put it lightly. Your good friend Schlatt, is to be installed as king.” 

“You are mad if you think I would ever agree to something such as that.”

“I don’t think you have much of a choice here. After all, it’d be a real shame if anything happened to your remaining son now, wouldn’t it?” he hummed lightly.

His father’s fist clenched around the chains. “Don’t you _dare_ threaten him.”

Schlatt chuckled darkly. “Oh, but threaten is such a…negative word, don’t you agree? I’d rather refer to it as, hmm, incentive?”

“Let’s say I agree. Do you think I would trust the words of someone like you?” 

“You’re a smart man y’know. I respect that.” Schlatt walked over to where Toby sat, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder. He flinched. Schlatt ignored him, grinning at the man in front of him, “So I’ll cut you a deal. Ever heard of the Dragon’s Vow? I’ll take that vow for you. It’s as simple as that, I promise your son won’t die, and I get the country, not so hard is it?”

His father gaped at the man, going lax as he took in the words. “You would go that far? All for a country you’re not even from. Why?”

“Hey,” Schlatt interrupted, squeezing harder on Toby’s shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain from him, “I’m asking the questions here bud. Just answer me. Yes? Or No? I’ll make you the deal right now, your son could be free with just a few words. And I’m in no hurry to die, so I can assure you he’ll be safe.”

“I—” the King looked at his son’s face, at the pain and fear etched into it, and sighed resignedly, “fine,” he looked at the ground for a moment before meeting Schlatt’s eyes. “Make the vow, and I’ll write my Will.”

A manic look entered Schlatt’s eyes at the words, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth as he whirled to face the guards in the hall. “Well, you heard the good man!” he snapped his fingers rapidly, “get him some paper and a quill, and let’s get this show on the road!”

Toby only stared in shock, not understanding what his father was doing. He looked at his defeated form as the guards returned, handing the king the materials. His fingers shook as he took the paper, and he paused before looking at Schlatt again. 

“Make the vow first, and then I’ll sign it.”

Schlatt sighed dramatically, finally releasing Toby as he straightened, moving a hand to his heart. He began reciting words in a language that grated on Toby’s ears, nearly recoiling at the foreign sounds. If he focused, he could almost see a dark purple mist surround him and Schlatt, coiling lethargically around them. Finally, as the sounds and smoke almost became too much, Schlatt’s words returned to the common tongue.

“I, Jschlatt, upon the Dragon’s Vow, do state my promise: No harm will come to the youngest Prince by my hands. This, I solemnly swear.”

With a silent pop, the atmosphere disappeared, almost as if nothing had occurred, but his father looked satisfied so he probably hadn’t imagined the whole thing. One of the chains around his wrists was loosened, allowing him to write. The silence continued for a few moments before Schlatt began tapping his foot impatiently, glaring at the king.

He took the hint and held up the paper. Writing a few sentences before stopping, looking up at Toby sadly. At that moment he realised the gravity of what was occurring in the cell. His eyed widened as his father’s pen touched the paper, ending with a flourish as he signed it. Toby pushed against the men holding him, trying to stand, shouting meaningless words at his captors. At Schlatt. At his father. Begging him to stop, to take it back.

Schlatt simply rolled his eyes at the commotion, signalling the men with a quiet “shut him up” before snatching the paper and reading its content, he smiled, seemingly satisfied with its words. Toby stopped struggling when his father shook his head, silently begging him to not fight. Schlatt folded the paper and pocketed it, holding his hands behind his back. He started walking towards the door as the guards unlocked the cell. 

“Well, as much fun as this has been, I have some grave news to break to the nice citizens of this fine country. Very tragic. The royal family was attacked today and they all sadly lost their lives… So sorry for your loss.” He laughed as he walked out of earshot, the heavy oak door from the hallway slamming shut behind him. 

Nobody moved in the resulting silence, the guards unsure as to what to do, and Toby trying to process the idea that his dad had given the country to a man to save his life.  
Finally, after what felt like hours, but was probably only a few seconds. One of the men who had been sitting to the side throughout the exchange pushed himself off the wall and sighed. He made his way over to Toby and knelt next to him.

“Hey kid,” he tried gently, ignoring the dirty look Toby gave him, “I know this is uh, hard, but you’ll live. I’ll take you back to your room, but you gotta direct me, I don’t know shit about this castle,” he laughed lightly, tugging nervously on his beanie. “I’m Quackity, we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, so I hope we can be friends or something.” 

Toby just glared at him, eyes red. 

“Right, uh ok, let’s just go. For the record, I am sorry about this. I didn’t want it to be this way but, you gotta do what you gotta do amiright?”

With that he pulled himself and Toby to their feet, leading him out of the room. Quackity nodded sadly at the King and turned Toby’s head so he faced away. The last he saw of his father was his ashen face, lips pursed and eyes closed as a gleaming sword was placed to his neck.

* * *

Tubbo sighed shakily as he finished, slowly looking around the room as his friends took in the words. “Uh yeah, that’s. That’s basically it. We’re actually princes from another country. Wack, right?” he said jokingly, trying to alleviate the sombre atmosphere.

“What, and I mean this very nicely, the fuck, Tubbo?” Tommy managed in the silence, struggling to sit up. 

“Surprise?”

“Ok let me get this straight,” Wilbur said. “You were attacked four years ago, at the age of _nine_ , and this Schlatt guy used you as a bargaining chip to gain control of Esempia, which you are the prince of? What about you Dream? Clearly you didn’t die that day.”

Dream nodded. “No, I was taken… somewhere. A building in the middle of the woods, you couldn’t get there if you tried. It was pretty secluded, and clearly no one found it. I’m still not sure what that place was, and I don’t think I want to know. I don’t know what they did to me, I’m not even sure if there was anyone else trapped there. They did all that creepy shit like take my blood and see what my limits were.” Dream shifted uncomfortably. “I escaped after two years, a fire broke out and I killed the guy who was with me. I ended up running into the forest.” he looked up at Sapnap, “and well, you know the rest.”

Tubbo stared at the wooden floor, face screwed up in thought.

“What’s wrong Tubbo?” Phil asked.

Tubbo jolted, eyes regaining their focus. “I—I think. I think I escaped because of Dream.”

“What do you mean?” Dream reached out, taking Tubbo’s shaking hand in his own, trying to comfort him.

“I also escaped after two years. They suddenly decided to take me somewhere, they never told me where, or why. And I never found out. We were attacked by bandits, probably thinking we were a rich family or something, and I managed to slip away. But I bet they were gonna use me to replace you in whatever they were doing…”

Dream barked out a laugh. “Gods, I’m sorry Tubbo. Thank fuck you never made it.”

“Hey don’t apologise, it meant I escaped as well.”

“That’s cool and all but,” Tommy crossed his arms, turning to address Tubbo, “are you or are you not a Hybrid?” 

Tubbo flinched.

Tommy pressed on unaware. “’Cause like, these guys said only Endermen Hybrids have purple eyes like Dream, and your eyes are dark blue.”

“I—I’m not a Hybrid.” Tubbo stammered.

“You don’t sound very sure.”

“I heard the royal family was descendent from the Ender _Dragon_ ,” Techno drawled. 

Tommy whipped back to Tubbo.

Tubbo sighed, sinking into the couch. “Yes. That is true. But we’re not Hybrids in the normal sense. It’s extremely rare for us, the last Ender Dragon Hybrid was our grandmother.”

“I’m not sure how,” Dream butted in, “but somehow Schlatt knew I was “more” Hybrid than Tubbo. It’s like a percentage. Normally Hybrids are more than 60 percent whatever creature they are, and the rest is human. For us, its much lower, I’m about 40 percent “Hybrid” and Tubbo is only 25.”

“Right, so you’re not a Hybrid, but you’re not completely human either?”

“Yep, we still get the benefit of things like better hearing and reflexes, but we have no visible traits apart from the eyes.”

Phil studied Tubbo’s face. “But Tubbo’s eyes aren’t purple.” 

“No, they are,” Tubbo admitted, “they’re a very dark shade of indigo, but I told you they’re blue, so your brain says ‘oh ok’ and you just go along with it.”

Phil hummed in acknowledgement. 

Dream stood, arms stretching above his head. He walked over to the window and peered out into the inky darkness. “I suppose you’ll have to stay the night. Can’t have you dying on me just yet, Tubbo.”

They nodded in agreement, as soon as the sun goes down, monsters would resurface from wherever they hid during the day and terrorise any unfortunate soul caught outside without a torch. You heard reports almost every morning of a traveller or some fool being injured or even killed if they strayed too far from civilisation. The King had made it mandatory to light any structure, be it a house or farmland, to protect its occupants from any mob that could be drawn to the darkness. Only trained fighters ever braved travelling at night. The group could probably make it home relatively safely but weighed down by their bags as they were, it wasn’t an option.

Sapnap’s stomach growled loudly, prompting George and Dream to burst into laughter. George poked Sapnap incessantly until he reached down a hand to pull him up. Though not without shoving him into the bench and leaping out of retaliation range. George simply sighed and rubbed his hip, stumbling into the kitchen on legs shaky from being pinned beneath him.

He scrounged around in the kitchen while everyone talked, trying to turn the stew they’d planned on having into a meal to serve eight people. Eventually, Phil took pity on the man and retrieved another bag of mushrooms from his bag. He joined George in the kitchen and soon they were all sat around the dining table and living room, blowing on the hot broth. No one bothered speaking, everyone just absorbing the story they’d been told. As they finished, they broke into smaller conversations. Techno and Sapnap were volunteered for dish duty while the others sat back down. Their voices dwindling the later it got. They had ignored any talk of Tubbo and Dream’s past, but they still burned with questions. 

There was one question that needed to be asked, however.

“Is anything going to change? Are you just going to leave Schlatt alone?” Phil asked.

“Nothing’s different, we don’t exactly plan on getting Esempia back. It’s not like Schlatt has done anything horribly evil. He’s actually a pretty good leader. If you ignore the uh. Murder.” Tubbo yawned, ducking his head as he did.

“Well, I think that means its bedtime,” Phil smiled, “have you decided on sleeping arrangements?” he turned to George.

“I think so, it’ll be tight and you’ll have to share beds but you should all fit.” 

“That’s fine, how many spare beds do you have?”

He hummed, deep in thought. “Well, we can all fit on Dream’s bed, so that’s two beds and the couch.”

“That’s plenty, I can take the couch if that’s alright with you two.” He addressed the last part to Wilbur and Techno.

“Are you sure your aching back can deal with it, Phil?”

Phil lunged himself at Techno, tugging lightly on his long braid as the taller boy tried to run. “Yes you little shit, my back will be _just fine_.” 

“Children, children calm down.” Wilbur clapped, drawing their attention. “Yes, Phil that’s fine. I love that Tommy and Tubbo don’t get a choice.”

“They sleep in the same bed half the time anyway.”

Tommy choked, Tubbo leaning over and smacking him on the back a few more times than necessary.

George hid a smile. “Alright, if that’s good with you. I think we’ll head off to bed as well. Sap can you get the spare blankets for Phil? I’ll show Techno and Wil their room.” He tilted his head down the hall, indicating that they should follow him. 

Tubbo felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Dream leaning over the couch. 

“If you two are done I’ll take you to Sap’s room.”

They nodded in assent, and Dream led them down the hall to the room on the left. Opening the door he gestured inside. “There should be enough blankets and pillows for you guys, my room is the one at the end, so just knock if you need anything.”

“Thanks Dream.” Tubbo smiled, “Goodnight!”

“Night Tubs, Tommy.” With a grin he ruffled Tubbo’s hair and walked back into the living room, speaking to Techno before he even entered the room.

Tommy almost ran past him into the room. He threw himself onto the bed, drawing himself into a ball, face hidden by his hair.

Tubbo glanced at his friend, he moved to sit next to him but Tommy just moved further onto the bed. His face fell, had he upset Tommy somehow? He gave him space, moving around the room and extinguishing all but the one candle on the bedside table. Trying again he sat in front of Tommy, blocking any escape routes. He tried to meet his eyes but Tommy just turned and faced the wall.

“Tommy are you ok?” he asked hesitantly, “did I do something wrong?”

Tommy mumbled something, too low for Tubbo to make out.

“Huh?”

“No. It’s. It wasn’t you,” Tommy whispered.

“So someone did upset you.” Knowing Tommy it really could have been only one other person. “Was it Dream?”

Tommy winced. Shifting slowly he faced Tubbo again.

“I just. I just don’t want you to leave me.” 

Tubbo took a sharp breath as he realised what Tommy meant. 

“Are you stupid?” he giggled at the incredulous look on Tommy’s face.

“Excuse me?”

“Tommy. _Tommy listen_. I’m not leaving. I’m not gonna stay with Dream, alright? He may be my brother by blood, but you guys are my family. I’m not gonna like, live with Dream and George and Sapnap. I don’t think that’s something they’d want, and it’s definitely not something _I’d_ want,” he laughed, “Clay is alive, and I’m happier for it. I know where he lives so I can see him whenever I want. We both understand that we’ve grown, that we have our own families now.” he reached over and squeezed Tommy’s hands, “ _you are my family, Tommy. It doesn’t mean Dream’s not my brother, but we’re not attached at the hip, I’m not dropping the life I have now just to live with him out of some expectation.”_

Tommy sniffled. “Clingy bitch.”

Tubbo looked pointedly down at where Tommy had interlocked their fingers and smiled.

Tommy just gripped him tighter, dragging Tubbo with him as they settled under the covers. After a few moments, he felt Tommy shuffle and a weight on his chest, Tommy’s hair tickling his nose. He huffed and let go of Tommy’s hands, smiling as he whined in annoyance. He wrapped the arm Tommy was currently crushing over the younger boy and grabbed Tommy’s free hand with his own. Lulled by the steady beat of Tubbo’s heart, Tommy allowed himself to drift off to sleep, Tubbo quickly following.

* * *

Nothing stirred beyond the occasional groan or rattle from far off mobs, no sound came from the other rooms. Only Dream and his friends remained up, sitting together on Dream’s bed. The trio found themselves on the covers, unwilling to go to sleep yet. The bed wasn’t exactly designed for three people, the stupid lime green sheets “they’re not stupid, it’s about being on brand” could barely be seen through the tangle of bodies. Dream sat up against the wall, fiddling with the leather strap on his mask as he waited for the inevitable questions. 

Finally, Sapnap spoke up. “So, is that it? Any secrets you have left?” 

His hands stilled. “No, that’s it. And anyway, its all the one big secret anyway, it's not like, 10 small ones.”

“So you wearing the mask _is_ related to being royalty?”

Dream made a sound of agreement. “I wear my mask for two reasons. One: my eyes are purple, and I don’t want to get questions about being a Hybrid; Endermen Hybrids are rare as it is. Two: I was fourteen when I ‘died’, and I competed regularly in swordplay, people would recognise me, _especially_ with my eyes. I couldn’t have that, I didn’t want Schlatt to realise I was still alive.”

George sat up, pushing himself onto his elbows to look Dream in the eyes. “But you were still scared of showing us your face, even though you trusted us. We wouldn’t have ratted you out, you know that, right?”

“Of course I trusted you! But,” Dream sunk lower into the pillows, embarrassed, “but I love you both, and I didn’t want to have to leave because you recognised me.”

“Awww you’re a sap Dweam,” George giggled, flopping onto him.

“Cuddle pile!” Sapnap whisper shouted, jumping onto the both of them. 

“Oh god get your fat ass off right now.” Dream tried pushing them off, but very quickly gave up as neither budged.

“Why? You love my ass” Sapnap wiggled his butt seductively.

“Never do that again.”

“What are you going to do to stop me Gogy?”

“Cry.”

Dream wheezed, almost instantly choking at the lack of air under his friends.  
“Will you two stop? Just go to sleep _please_.”

They huffed in agreement, rolling off Dream to lie next to him. Sapnap snuggled into his arm, using it as a pillow instead of the three other ones spread around the bed. George reached over to put out the candle, letting the light fade from the room. Dream pulled his friend down, bringing his head to his chest, holding them both close as they slipped into a dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> uwu thanks for getting to the end of this mess. I'm aiming to have part 2 started by the end of January? I'm going on holiday for like 10 days so I'm going to be busy. But hopefully I'll see you there lmao.


End file.
